Thursday, August 19, 2010

Are You Giving Your Best?

Thursdays - Devotions for Writers

“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume;
she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the
house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
(John 12:3 NIV)


Mary didn’t hold back. She didn’t use water to wash Jesus’ feet. She used an expensive perfume. And she didn’t use “just enough” dabbed on a cloth. She “poured” the liquid over Him.

Mary gave it all to honor Him. She gave her best.

Is that how we approach writing? Are we always giving our best? Do we treat our work as an offering to God?

Do we study the craft? Do we seek to learn and do better? Do we write, rewrite . . . and if necessary, rewrite again?

Or . . . do we tune out critique partners because we want to move on to new stories? Do we stop striving to improve because “we know it all?” Do we hand in less-than-stellar work to our editors because we think “it’s good enough?”

God doesn’t expect us – or our work – to be perfect. But He does expect us to not offer something below our capabilities.

"Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple." (2 Timothy 2:15 The Message)

Dawn